Featured Guests K-Z
AFK
AFK spent decades away from the keyboard as he figured out life, the universe, and everything. Eventually, the voices in his head demanded their stories be told, and his professional writing journey began. He writes wonder-filled books that are safe for middle-graders and enjoyable for adults.
Benjamin Kerei
Benjamin Kerei is a New Zealand author who has an unhealthy codependent relationship with Coffee. He fell in love with LitRPG genre in 2019 when he picked up The Land and realized applying a system to his weirdest story ideas made telling those stories not only possible, but way more fun. Since then, he has never looked back, writing the Unorthodox Farming, Vampire Vincent, and First Line of Defense series. Each one a slightly different take on LitRPG.
Jay Krauss
Jay is an animal lover, software developer, traditional blacksmith, modern woodworker, terrible mechanic, avid reader, and author. A master of no trades, perhaps, but a consummate dabbler. Author of the Will of the Immortals and Immortals' Mask series.
Dakota Krout
Good. Clean. Fun. Dakota Krout is an internationally bestselling author known for infusing novels with fun, punny, and clean humor. With multiple best-selling series—including "Cooking With Disaster", "Divine Dungeon", "Completionist Chronicles", "Damsels of Distress", and "Full Murderhobo"—bringing joy and laughter to readers. Dakota’s work has earned a place as one of Audible's top 5 fantasy picks in 2017, a top 5 bestseller rank featured on the New York Times, and was chosen by Audible as "Among the top 100 Fantasy of All Time" in 2024.
Eric Jason Martin
Eric Jason Martin is the author and narrator of the Earphones Award-Winning New Arcadia LitRPG trilogy. The third and final book, New Arcadia: Judgment Day, is a 2026 Audie Award Nominee for Best Science Fiction Audiobook of the Year. He is the Audie Award-winning narrator of over 500 other audiobooks, including Seth Ring’s top-rated Titan and Tower series, as well as other series by Tao Wong, Dean Henegar, Dave Willmarth, Blaise Corvin, and many more. Eric is also the director of Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne’s Heads Will Roll, featuring Meryl Streep, and is currently co-starring in StanLand, a 2026 Ambie Award nominee, re-teaming with Rhea Seehorn, Jon Hamm, and Bobby Moynihan. He lives in Pasadena, CA.
J.R. Mathews
Having worked as a public defender for almost a decade, J.R. Mathews wrote and published his first book in 2021 and to his eternal shock people actually wanted to read it. Since then he has been working full-time as an author and plans to keep doing so for as long as people keep reading what he writes. J.R. Mathews is the author of Jake's Magical Market and Portal to Nova Roma.
Johnathan McClain
Johnathan McClain is an award winning actor, screenwriter, novelist and audiobook narrator. As an actor, his extensive resumé includes a notable turn as Megan Draper's agent, Alan Silver, on the final season of AMC's critically acclaimed drama Mad Men as well as appearing as the lead of the TV Land comedy series, Retired at 35, starring alongside late Hollywood icons George Segal and Jessica Walter, amongst dozens of other TV series, films, and plays. As a writer and producer, Johnathan's feature film debut, The Outfit, co-written with Oscar winner Graham Moore and starring Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, and Johnny Flynn, was produced by FilmNation and distributed internationally by Focus Features in the spring of 2022. In the fall of 2024 Podium Entertainment, one of the world’s leading publishers of science fiction and fantasy, released the debut novel in the Meet Your Maker series, a pentalogy of high fantasy novels which Johnathan is co-authoring with bestselling fantasy writer Seth McDuffee and for which he also narrates the audiobooks. As an audiobook narrator, Johnathan has recorded approximately 200 titles ranging from sci-fi, to romance, to non-fiction, to fantasy, to thrillers, to historical fiction, and everything in between. In the words of Ryan Rimmel, author of the Audible bestselling Noobtown series, “Johnathan can do anything.” He is the recipient of multiple Audiofile Earphone Awards, SOVAS nominations, and an Audie for his narration of Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s #1 NY Times bestselling sci-fi novel, Illuminae, which won the Audie Award for audiobook of the year for multi-voiced narration in 2016. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Laura.
Ryan 'RinoZ - Author of Chrysalis and Book of the Dead' McGrath
It's possible that, during the course of his career, Ryan has made larger and more embarrassing mistakes than applying for LitRPG Con without listing his pen name or mentioning the books he writes, but if there is, he can't remember them right now.
Heath Miller
Once upon a time Heath was a stage and screen actor in Australia & the UK, these days they are mostly confined to a padded box in the attic room of a dilapidated 19th century New England home, muttering into a microphone for a living. Probably most well known for litRPG sensations He Who Fights With Monsters & Heretical Fishing, books Heath has narrated have been #1 Audible Bestsellers & appeared in several "Best of the Year" and "Best of All Time" audiobook lists. Heath could once do a standing backflip, and having not attempted one for 20 years, they are just going to assume they still can.
Selkie Myth
I only enjoy mangos, I don't have a love affair with them.
Hunter Mythos
Raised out of the 305, Hunter Mythos takes his pet gator out on walks and spends his weekends getting into Kung Fu matches with someone's grandmother to get the best avocado from the stores. Outside of those accounts of being your everyday Florida Man, he likes to read, watch sitcoms, and spend his time writing into existence new universes.
Brian J. Nordon
Brian J. Nordon is the Irish Author behind the bestselling Quest Academy series. His first story, Wildcards, reached the top ten on Royal Road. During all that, he worked as the Narrative Recruiter for Larian Studios on Baldur’s Gate 3, before moving into writing as a full-time career.
When he’s not behind on his deadlines, you’ll find him travelling to random conventions and events around the world, or set to offline so he can play a worrying amount of games on Steam. Brian enjoys a good gin and tonic, and is easily bribed. He feels you should know this.
David North
David North is a Pacific Northwest author of LitRPG and cultivation, including the series Guardian of Aster Fall, Wild Era, and River of Fate. He often has new releases hit the Top 100 on Amazon Kindle. At any particular moment, he is probably lost in a book. You're welcome to join him.
Sean Oswald
Sean was born on Krypton, Zenn-La, or Planet Vegeta, depending on which one of his kids is asking and what mood he is in. He served in the USMC straight out of high school before going on to obtain a highly useful degree in ancient languages. Then, onto the mission field to work at an orphanage in India with his wife and 2.5 kids before returning to the US and surrendering to the dark side. Some say Sith, but his business card reads attorney or at least it did till he gave it up to make up stories. Now he lives with his wife and nine (yes 9) children in central Illinois. Although to be fair, some of the kids are moved out and now he has version 2.0 called grandkids—which are even more fun, despite still having an 8 year old of his own. When he isn't moving furniture for his wife or playing with his kids, he is busy trying to force all the stories in his head onto a piece of paper.
Plum Parrot
Plum Parrot is the pen name of author MC Gallup, who grew up in Southern Arizona and spent much of his youth wandering around the Sonoran Desert, hunting imaginary monsters and building forts. He studied creative writing at the University of Arizona and, for a number of years, attempted to teach middle schoolers to love literature and write their own stories. If he’s not out walking his Airedale Terrier, you can find him writing, reading his favorite authors, or playing D&D with friends and family.
Andie Parsneau (MouthyMaven)
Andrea Parsneau is an award-winning audiobook narrator celebrated for her standout work in LitRPG, fantasy, and progression-based fiction. Known for her remarkable vocal versatility and precise character work, she has voiced iconic leads, sprawling ensemble casts, and intricate game-world systems with equal skill. Her performances are praised for elevating action, humor, and emotional depth, helping define the sound of modern LitRPG storytelling. With dozens of titles to her name and a dedicated following, Andrea continues to be one of the genre’s most sought-after voices.
Ryan Rimmel
Ryan Rimmel is an American author of the LitRPG series The Mayor of Noobtown which blends humor, fantasy and player-drive story elements to create a unique reading experience. He has also written other books like the Adventurers of Squire Yorick, Sir Crabby and Fifth Era! He's also an avid gamer and 3D printing enthusiast who engages directly with readers via Patreon.
Seth Ring
Author of the Titan and Battle Mage Farmer series, Seth grew up imagining fantastical tales of heroes and villains, of magic, technology, and skill. Eventually, Seth thought it would be a good idea to write some of his stories down since he was running out of room in his head. Seth Ring currently lives with his wife, kids, and dogs in the United States of America.
S.L. Rowland
S.L. Rowland is a cozy fantasy and LitRPG author known for crafting immersive worlds filled with adventure, heart, and a touch of humor. A lifelong gamer and fantasy enthusiast, he draws inspiration from tabletop RPGs, video games, and the fantastical. When he’s not writing, he enjoys weightlifting, hiking with his Shiba Inu, and enduring the heartbreak of being an Atlanta sports fan.
Daniel Schinhofen
Daniel Schinhofen has published over sixty books since 2016. He has name recognition in the genres of LitRPG and Gamelit. Daniel has published books ranging from western to Celtic fantasy and onto zombie apocalypse. His books have been known to touch on mental trauma, discrimination, and other human conditions. A best-selling author on Amazon multiple times, his many series have achieved name recognition in the genre. His well-known series include; Alpha World, Binding Words, Aether’s Revival, Heavenly Chaos, and more. When not slavishly typing away at the next book, Daniel tries to unwind with video games, or going for walks around his neighborhood.
Bruce Sentar
Bruce Sentar is a bestselling fantasy and LitRPG author known for fast-paced adventure, heartfelt character moments, and sprawling worlds. His books blend crunchy progression systems with emotional storytelling, creating series where dragons fly, heroes break limits, and every chapter ends with a reason to keep reading. When he’s not writing, Bruce can be found gardening, answering AMAs, or figuring out what the heck he's going to write next.
Shami Stovall
Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction. Before that, she taught history and criminal law at the college level and loved every second. When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators. She loves John, reading, and writing about herself in the third person.
Eric Ugland
Eric Ugland is a man who took one look at the real world and decided it needed more dragons, bullets, and poorly thought-out life choices. Born at a time inconvenient for both himself and his enemies, he wandered the earth collecting bad habits, worse friends, and a peculiar knack for storytelling. Like a raccoon with a typewriter, he rummages through the garbage of genre fiction, dragging out the shiny bits and hammering them into tales fit for folks who like their heroes foul-mouthed, their quests slightly sideways, and their victories accidental. He writes books the way some men build barns—crooked, but they’ll stand long enough to shelter a good time. If you’re looking for literature that smells of gunpowder, sweat, and suspicious magic, Mr. Ugland invites you to pull up a chair, pour yourself something regrettable, and read on.
Will Wight
Will Wight is the New York Times and #1 Kindle best-selling author of the Cradle series, a space-fantasy series entitled The Last Horizon, and a handful of other books that he regularly forgets to mention. His true power is only unleashed during a full moon, when he transforms into a monstrous mongoose. Will lives in Florida, lurking beneath the swamps to ambush prey. He graduated from the University of Central Florida, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and a cursed coin of Spanish gold.
Shawn Wilson
Married with six children (4 biological 2 adopted), I'm a lover of fantasy and litrpg. A good day is a few thousand words written on any story I'm working on.
Tao Wong
Tao Wong is the author of the A Thousand Li progression fantasy series and the System Apocalypse LitRPG series, among others. His work has been released in audio, paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats, and translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and several other languages. He was shortlisted for the UK Kindle Storyteller Award in 2021 for A Thousand Li: The Second Sect. In 2026, the first three books in the A Thousand Li series will be republished in hardcover by Ace Books. When he’s not writing or working, he enjoys practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada.